Owner: HWMC
Catalog#: 2CL-CHLT-113
Conservation by Shaun Fosdick of St. Louis Strings
Mandolins
Neapolitan 'Mandolin'
Possibly Oscar Schmidt in New Jersey
No Label
Woods, mother-of-pearl, metal
ca. 1900 – 1920
Height: 23 in; Width: 7.25 in; Depth: 5.75 in
Strings – Lutes – Mandolins
No Label/Markings
The word mandolin means ‘small mandola’ (like the violin to the viola) that is a fretted instrument. This mandolin consists of 8 (four double course) strings tuned in an interval of the perfect fifth, the same tuning as a violin (G3, D4, A4, E5). The style of this mandolin is known as the Neapolitan or round-backed mandolin with a tear-drop shaped sound board and one oval shaped sound hole with decorative purfling. The edges also display decorative wood purling. The resonator back consists of wood strips of alternating colors, sometimes referred to in the US as the ‘potato beetle’ or ‘potato bug’ mandolin.